Philosophy Now Forum

How much mathematics and formal logic is needed to pursue graduate studies in Philosophy?
On other online philosophy forums, this question got mixed responses. Some said that you could not get far in philosophy without a good background in mathematics and formal logic, given the analytic bent of contemporary philosophy. Others said that unless you venture into some areas of philosophy like philosophy of language, mathematics would not be that important. The remaining few adopted a more extreme position that philosophy could do without math.

I was wondering what Philosophy professors or people with and advanced degree in Philosophy think about this issue. Is philosophy becoming more mathematical so much so that few decades from now, all or most philosophical questions will be answered using formal methods?

rja2015 wrote:How much mathematics and formal logic is needed to pursue graduate studies in Philosophy?
On other online philosophy forums, this question got mixed responses. Some said that you could not get far in philosophy without a good background in mathematics and formal logic, given the analytic bent of contemporary philosophy. Others said that unless you venture into some areas of philosophy like philosophy of language, mathematics would not be that important. The remaining few adopted a more extreme position that philosophy could do without math.

I was wondering what Philosophy professors or people with and advanced degree in Philosophy think about this issue. Is philosophy becoming more mathematical so much so that few decades from now, all or most philosophical questions will be answered using formal methods?

I don't think any philosophical problems can be answered satisfactorily using formal methods.

Do you know of any that can?

rja2015 wrote:Is philosophy becoming more mathematical so much so that few decades from now, all or most philosophical questions will be answered using formal methods?

Philosophy has never been more mathematical than it was two and a half thousand years ago in the Pythagorean school, and hardly more analytic than the Eleatic school of Parmenides and Zeno, with his paradoxes. Together with the more empirical approach, that had its first expression in Miletus, thanks to Thales, they pretty much define how to think philosophically. It is still the case today that there is no consensus on which is 'best' and how philosophy is practised in individual departments depends on the history or ethos of the place, and the persuasions of the staff. Always has been, always will.

It would seem obvious to me to ask people in those institutions. How the hell would we know?